This invention relates to an improved construction and relationship of parts to form a reline tower employed for supporting workmen and materials within a metallurgical furnace while replacing the refractory lining therein.
While the present invention is not so limited, it is particularly useful for facilitating the relining of a metallurgical furnace of the type commonly referred to in the art as a Q-BOP furnace. The usual Q-BOP furnace is a bottom-blown oxygen steelmaking furnace in the form of a large open-top vessel having a circular cross section and lined with refractory brickwork. When a bottom wall section, containing tuyeres, is removed for a relining operation, Q-BOP furnace becomes an open-ended vessel. Because of the physical size of the furnace, a tower or scaffolding is needed to support workmen and materials at various elevations within the furnace to replace the refractory brick lining.
The useful life of the refractory brick is limited because it is eroded away during the steelmaking operation. The relining operation should be carried out in a rapid and efficient manner so as to minimize the time required to return the furnace back into service. In a given steelmaking facility, it is the usual practice to employ a plurality of Q-BOP furnaces so that, for example, while one furnace is undergoing a relining operation, other furnaces are used to continue the steelmaking operation. This, of course, necessitates the continued availability of a mill crane for the steelmaking operation because ladles of molten metal must be transported to the Q-BOP furnaces and other essential functions carried out through the use of the crane. It is, therefore, highly undesirable to require the services of the mill crane during relining operations for a metallurgical furnace. Most known designs of reline towers demand either continuous service or partial service by an overhead crane during the actual relining operation. Typically, the services of an overhead crane have been utilized to assemble a reline tower in a piece-by-piece fashion within the furnace or otherwise manipulate and position a tower for use within the furnace.